Escapees remain at large

Two men who walked away from a state prison near Black River Falls remained at large Thursday, after stealing four vehicles, kidnapping a woman, and leading police on a high-speed chase. “They’re gone,” said Monroe County Sheriff Pete Quirin. Quirin believed 18-year-old James Misleveck and 29-year-old James Newman were no longer in Monroe County

The pair walked away from the minimum-security Black River Correctional Center late Tuesday night. They stole a shotgun and ammunition from a nearby truck, then stole a car and drove to the Ho-Chunk Casino near Black River Falls, where they kidnapped a woman at gunpoint and forced her to drive them to Tomah. Deb Lozano was released, shaken but otherwise unhurt, according to a press release from the Ho-Chunk Nation.

Police said the two then stole an unlocked pickup truck across the street from the Kwik-Trip where they released Lozano. An officer gave chase on I-90, but Newman and Misleveck abandoned the vehicle and ran into a cornfield. A search of that area by officers turned up nothing. The pair is then believed to have stolen a car from a driveway in Clifton, and Quirin said his department has no idea where the men are now. The stolen shotgun was recovered, but Misleveck and Newman should still be considered armed-and-dangerous.